Monday, May 16, 2011

How Popular Are Martial Arts Movies

By Adriana Noton


Two thousand years ago in East Asia this popular style of fighting was created and now lives on in many martial arts movies. Since then there are over 200 different types of fighting styles with a little of 100 being taught worldwide. This fighting style has gained popularity drastically over time as a result of its continued use in the movie industry.

Mainstream culture has churned out movie after movie with at least 3 fighting films being released each year. Some even have cult followings as people dig up and purchase Asian films made decades before. The public adores these types of films and its actors like Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Jean Claude Van Damme, Jet Li, Steven Seagal and Jackie Chan.

These popular men have studied various styles and have applied them in many popular movies. Jack Chan, for example, is a beloved man and plays many characters adept in this fighting style. Chan is well known for hundreds of fighting films including Drunken Master. Many critics state this as one of his best films. Drunken Master was released in 1978 and brought him much attention from the western world where he transitioned from humble movie actor to mega blockbuster star.

Jackie Chan is best known for his comedic style of fighting, adding comedy to his craft. In the movie, Drunken Master, Chan plays a man who is on a journey to learn from a drunken master in order to help save his teacher and school. Legends like Chan have made this unique fighting style exciting due to its many appearances in shows. This has thus made it a very popular hobby by people worldwide.

Because of these films and their entertaining and eye catching fighting moves they have successfully appealed to the general public and have been doing so for over 30 years, when these films first began to be recognized by the Western world. Nowadays, Hollywood keeps producing martial art movies and often times lists one highly talented fighter against many evil men and women. One such movie was Karate Kid which later won a Golden Globe and received nominations from the Academy Awards. Karate Kid was a great Western film which made martial arts even more popular in its time.

Films like these can often be given their own genres due to the differences in them. Some films are comical or violent and feature many different types of fighting. Actors and directors delve into the ancient world of martial arts and produce unique and intense movies that interest the public year after year.

There are many other fighting actors. The late Bruce Lee is one. He is best known for his part in the movie Enter the Dragon. Because of his unique and complex style of fighting he was able to catch the attention of the audience. Jet Li acted in Kiss of the Dragon, The Fist of Legend and Fearless and has also become a very popular actor and fighter. Actors like Steven Seagal are from the west but still prove that they can be successful fighters as well.

Martial arts movies are a sub-culture phenomenon and are due to the intense skill behind martial arts.




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